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ARE THERE ANY SPECIAL TIPS FOR READING MY RESEARCH SOURCES?
by Kathy McLain, M.A.  

While reading your research sources, your goal as a researcher should be to become "somewhat" of an expert on your specific topic.

The most neglected area of any research project is the actual reading of sources.  Most students are usually in a big hurry by the time that they find their research sources, so they do not read the articles carefully.  Usually it is a good idea to read each article at least twice.

Read the article for the first time for general understanding of its content.  Use a highlighter to identify any important information like facts, statistics, summaries, expert opinions, or examples.

After you have finished reading the article, summarize the major points of the article so that you will understand the main point of the article you are reading.

Now reread your article for a second time.  Rereading your article often saves a lot of time in the note-taking process.  The last step in the reading process is really the first step in the note-taking process.  As you reread the article for a second time, reassess the materials you've highlighted and determine if you want to transfer the highlighted information onto an index card.  If you do, re-underline the highlighted material.  Sometime during this second reading, you may discover that during your first reading you highlighted more material than you actually want to note.  In this case, you can use a different writing instrument--your pen--to clarify exactly what part of the highlighted material you may or may not want to note.  Also as you reread, you may discover other important facts, statistics, summaries, expert opinions, or examples that you did not highlight during your first reading of the research material.  Underline this important information with a pen.  When you start to take notes, you will record each separate item you underlined with pen on a separate notecard.

Many students tend to use a few quotes that sound good from an article, but often they don't take the time to understand the research source they have read.

When you become "somewhat" of an expert on your limited topic during the research process, the paper itself is much easier to write because you understand the subject that you are writing about.